Waking Up
by Itonami
Summary: Ryoma x Sakuno oneshot and drabble series. [Chapter 2 Useless Senpai: Ryoma thinks that his senpaitaichi proves to be more useless than not.]
1. Waking Up

**Title: **Waking Up  
**Character(s): **Ryoma x Sakuno  
**Rated: **K+  
**Genre: **RyoSaku fluff.  
**Summary: **Ryoma hates waking up.

* * *

By the light shining through his closed eyelids, Ryoma knew it was time to get up. He just didn't want to. He tried to turn away from it, but it was still bright in the room and he couldn't stop from groaning in annoyance. He mentally cursed the sun for being so bright in the morning, for never failing to creep into his bedroom without detection, for always succeeding in waking him up, especially when he didn't want to. It was an opponent that he couldn't beat, no matter how much he tried.

There was a gentle knock on the door to his room and the man in bed frowned with his eyes closed while he reached over with his arm to the other side of the bed, as if searching for something. His arm touched mere rumpled sheets. Ryoma heard the door open quietly and the soft padding of feet towards him.

"Ryoma…" Her familiar voice controlled his eyelids. No, really, they did. They opened without question, so obediently, that Ryoma could have shown his disgust with them were it not for the person who stood over him.

Sakuno's face was a delicate shade of white, always on the pale side no matter the hours she spent in the sun watching him play tennis. Her silky auburn hair tumbled over her one of her small shoulders, twisted gently so that it mostly stayed together. Her liquid brown eyes were constantly soft, displaying every shade of love you could possibly see in your lifetime. This was the woman who stood next to him now with that softly teasing smile on her face.

"Ryoma, you're going to be late for your match. It's going to start in two hours." She said in her mature voice that evolved drastically as the years passed from junior high to the present years. It should also be noted that Sakuno acquired her grace and the ability to be prompt in high school.

Even though many things about her changed, her shy and quiet personality had remained, with a newly found presence of grace around her. No longer was she awkward or clumsy, but a very pretty woman who turned heads of the male population when walking down the street.

Echizen Ryoma reached out to grasp her hand and pull her down to him. Sakuno bent at the waist curiously to see what her lover wanted, only to have his strong arms lift her up and place her on the bed beside him. Like a cat, he rolled on top of her, resting his weight on his elbows situated at either side of her head. "R-Ryoma?"

Golden orbs glinted mischievously. "The match can wait."

He enjoyed seeing the same deep blush spread across her cheeks. Ryoma dipped his head closer to one of those soft cheeks, his dark emerald locks tickling her lips and neck. Sakuno shivered unconsciously. "T-Tezuka-san hates it when you're late, Ryoma." She breathed quietly.

The young tennis pro scowled and kissed her forehead. "Being a Wimbledon official makes him grumpy."

Sakuno giggled. "Is he going to referee your match?"

Ryoma made an attempt to shrug. "Who knows? It depends on which court I'm playing on."

The woman beneath him reached up to stroke his face. "I'll be cheering for you."

He nodded. "Good."

"You don't always have to win, Ryoma." She whispered.

His dark, slender eyebrows drew together. "Will you be disappointed if I lose?"

Sakuno prodded his nose and his eyes crossed for a moment. "Never."

Ryoma smirked lopsidedly. "Then what's the point of losing?"

Three and a half hours later, Echizen Ryoma claimed his third consecutive Wimbledon title. The crowd was roaring with cheers, but there was a section at the top where the cheering was the loudest. When the winner looked up with a hand on his trademark cap, he smiled to see all of his senpai and former rivals that he met throughout his school days. But he turned away from them and saw what he was looking for. Sakuno ran to him while beaming with happiness and she threw her arms around him neck in an embrace that he had been fighting for an hour and a half.

For her…not the title.


	2. Useless Senpai

**Title: **Useless Senpai  
**Character(s):** RyoSaku, Seigaku regulars  
**Rated: **K  
**Genre: **Humor, with some poor advice on love.  
**Summary:** Ryoma thinks that his senpai-taichi are annoying.

* * *

They were the most bothersome, troublesome, aggravating, annoying, useless bunch of senpai that Ryoma would probably come in contact with in his lifetime.

Bothersome: Exactly what the word implied—capable of bothering their "ochibi" to the ends of the earth.

Troublesome: They seemed to drag all of _their_problems to him and let him take all the blame, thus resulting in Ryoma getting in trouble for them.

Aggravating: His senpai didn't know when to stop teasing him. Please, it was just a date!

Annoying: Refer to above three.

Useless: They didn't have any sage advice for him at all.

It was either Momo-senpai's gleeful muttering, "Let her walk beside you…Hehe, so young, so young" and,

Kikumaru-senpai's constant, "Ochibi, just don't make her cry! I can't believe our ochibi's grown so much,nya!" or,

Taka-san's flustered rambling, "T-take her to a nice restaurant. Don't f-forget to pull out the chair for her and…ano…always make sure her food's okay. Um, remember to make nice conversation and always pay the bill. Mm…don't let her pay for anything…" and,

Fuji-senpai's smiling face as he patted him on the head, "Why don't you talk about Shakespeare and recite a few poems for her? I'm sure she'll find that romantic, Echizen" or,

Inui-senpai's data advice, "There is a 98 chance that she's taken some time into choosing her clothes. Compliment her often because compliments are not overrated" or,

Oishi-senpai's overly mother-like fretting, "Do you think Ryuuzaki-sensei will be okay with this? Yes, of course she'll be okay with this. You're a nice gentleman…maybe a little less emotional than I'd like you to be, but who's to say Ryuuzaki-chan won't like that? Will it rain? Take and umbrella with you just in case, and a first-aid kit!" and,

Kaidou-senpai's glares, "Che. Buy her something cute" or,

Tezuka-buchou's indifferent, "…"

All in all, they were all useless.

Ryoma could hear them rustling in the bushes very un-discreetly as they hushed at each other to be quiet. The door opened and Sakuno greeted him with a flushed face, wearing a white skirt and a pink sweater that went with it nicely. Embarrassedly, Ryoma pulled the bill of his cap further down his eyes and muttered, "You look nice."

Sakuno felt like she was in heaven.

They walked down the street, Ryoma carefully keeping in pace with her. When they got to the restaurant, he pulled out the chair for her smoothly, allowing her to sit first. He ordered their food and Sakuno sat in silence, afraid to talk to him. Frowning, he opened his mouth to speak but a loud announcement interrupted him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to present some quiet entertainment for your evening tonight. May I presentromantic poems by Shakespeare." The customers clapped in appreciation and waited.

A man sat on a high stool and began reading from a book in Old English, his rich tenor voice floating through the restaurant peacefully. Ryoma gazed at the girl in front of him, who was listening intently to what the man was reading.

"Ne, Ryoma-kun, what is he saying?" She asked, almost breathless at the beauty of the foreign words. For the rest of dinner, Ryoma translated the words in Japanese.

Ryoma paid for the dinner, ignoring Sakuno's offer to pay for her half. He led her outside and walked down the busy streets of the night, Sakuno happily window shopping through the glass displays. Ryoma watched her as she took a longer interest than the rest on a particular stuffed animal kitten, which was rather cute even to him.

Without another word, he grabbed her and went in the store to buy the stuffed animal for her. With a grateful smile, Sakuno hugged it close as they exited, with Ryoma feeling a little warmer than usual.

They continued their slow walk back home when a hurried pedestrian rushed past the couple from behind, jostling Sakuno forward on accident. The crowded street prevented him from reaching and catching her. She landed on her knee, but kept the doll close to her body so that it wasn't harmed in the fall.

Ryoma scowled openly at the man who was speeding away, but soon turned his attention to the fallen girl. Helping her up, his keen eyes couldn't help but notice a cut knee. He sighed as he knelt down and dug into his pocket to find a band-aid. After he carefully put it on, he got up to meet her wide brown eyes.

He felt was something warm and soft on his lips. Quickly as the kiss came, it withdrew with hot embarrassment. Sakuno was blushing several shades of red at one time, with her arms firmly hugging the doll so hard, Ryoma was afraid she was going to squeeze the cotton out of it.

Echizen Ryoma felt the color on his cheeks rise so he looked away but reached for her hand. He pulled her right next to him and let a sincere smile play on his face.

Maybe his senpai were not as useless as they looked.


End file.
